BELT! Why a Black Eye Reveals More About Those That View You
In that great grand slam of life you could say I’ve achieved something Andy Murray hasn’t. It wasn’t a particularly vicious assault, but last week I accidentaly, and …
External articles for 2013
British Libraries Are Fighting Back! And It’s Children Who Are Leading the Charge
At last great news for libraries! And it’s the children who are putting their giant stamp of authority on the matter. Not only are there six writers of children’s books …
The True Story of a Bereavement Workshop
Whether it was ever Lady Godiva or Elizabeth I who rode “a cock horse to Banbury Cross” we might never know but it’s fairly safe to assume that the grand lady who wore “rings …
Why Young People Should Be Screened For Heart Conditions
This summer my daughter, Sophie, will graduate from Durham University. A few days ago 19-year-old Ryan Zon, a winger for Swallownest Miners Welfare Reserves was resuscitated …
That Mr Men Speech and Why Mr Gove Is Not Mr Right
The secret to teaching history is to empower students with a passion for the subject. Having gone to a comprehensive school in an area of considerable social depravation I …
Ten Questions Children Ask Authors
Martin Amis once famously declared that he would have to have “a serious brain injury” to write for children and that “ he could never write about someone that forced me to …
“If Books Ever Die, Snobbery Would Be Standing Over its Corpse”
One of our leading writers for children, Matt Haigh, might have hit on something here when he said that. For Julia Donaldson, the Children’s Laureate, whose term of office …
Young Children Should Be Included in World War One Commemorations Too
In just over a year commemorations will officially begin to mark the 100th anniversary of the start of the First World War. Many believed The Great War, which started on …
The New Sky Box and the Logic Gene
It seems to me that the great populace can be divided into two kinds – those blessed with the logic gene … and those without. For the record, and without any ounce of shame, …
What Adoption Stories Really Tell Us
The award winning television series, Long Lost Family, which seeks to reunite family members, has been riding high in the viewing figures and rightly so. Presenters Nicky …